SÓNAR COMPLETES ITS MUSIC PROGRAM FOR BARCELONA + EDWARD SNOWDEN COLLABORATES WITH JEAN-MICHEL JARRE

Sónar completes its music program for Barcelona with Underground Resistance presents Timeline and other high profile names including Mad Professor, Booka Shade, the new show from singer Niño de Elche, and the return to the stage of El Guincho.

With the latest 38 additions to the line-up, the festival completes its list of national artists including the most important producers and djs in Spain today, such as Alizzz, Coyu, Strand, Cauto, and duos bRUNA & Wooky.

Sónar by Night completes its program with German duo Booka Shade -celebrating the 10th anniversary of their most popular album, “Movements”- and three highly reputed djs from the international clubbing scene: Britain’s Eats Everything and Kode9 (also performing at Sónar by Day with his show “The Nøtel”), and Spain’s Coyu.

Red Bull Music Academy adds new names to the SonarDôme stage, combining established artists -like Underground Resistance presents Timeline, Gerd Janson and LiL Jabba – with up and coming talent such as Lafawndah, Sevdaliza, JacobKorn, Astrolith and Spain’s TalkToMe, JackWasFaster and JohnGrvy, among others.

El Guincho, one of Spain’s most adventurous musicians, will showcase his third album live, the remarkable, forward thinking “HiperAsia” arriving six years after “Pop Negro”. Three musicians, two samplers, a synthesizer, processed guitars and synth bass will accompany the producer from the Canary Islands onstage. The film “HiperAsia. Animated Lyrical Adventure” directed by the Barcelona studio Manson will also be screened as part of the show.

Also noteworthy among the line-up’s new additions are leading producers and djs from Spain’s national musical spectrum including Alizzz, Strand, NMO, LloretSalvatge, IliaMayer, Cauto and the duos bRUNA & Wooky (debuting their new joint project and performing with visual artist AlbaG. Corral) and Zero + Chelis, two of Spain’s most respected DJs, playing together for the first time.

After the overwhelming success of last years show, Niño de Elche & LosVoluble return to Sónar this year to debut their new experimental flamenco project “In the Name of”. The audiovisual show that highlights the Mediterranean as a hub of cultural exchange, combining today’s European border policy with unpublished texts from feminist thinker Paul B. Preciado and ‘canta de ida y vuelta’ flamenco songs.

Jean-Michel Jarre and Edward Snowden collaborate on a track from the French artists‘ forthcoming second album, which will receive its worldwide premiere at Sónar 2016!

Friday 15th April. Today marks the announcement of the momentous collaboration between Edward Snowden and Jean-Michel Jarre on the track ‚Exit‘, from the French producer’s forthcoming ‚Electronica Vol. 2: The Heart of Noise‘. Jarre travelled to Moscow to conduct the interview with the North American activist. The finished track places the words from this interview over a driving, techno production.

The legendary French producers‘ new record will receive its worldwide premiere at Sónar Barcelona on Friday 17th of June, and will be preceeded on the 16th by a talk on his use of technology in the staging of his shows through the years, to which professional accreditation holders will have priority access.

The interview, which forms the basis of this unique collaboration, took place in Moscow, where Snowden has been living in political exile since 2013.

With this, Snowden joins the impressive list of guest artists on the ‚Electronica‘ release, which includes The Pet Shop Boys, The Orb and Laurie Anderson, to name but three of the 30 artists involved.

Speaking about the collaboration with Snowden, Jarre said:

“One of the recurrent themes of Electronica Vol. 1 & 2 is the ambiguous relationship we have with technology. On one side we have the world in our pocket and on the other side, the world is spying on us constantly. Edward Snowden became amodern hero, not by saying ‘stop’, but to be carefulregarding the (ab)use of technology. Our future needs brave people like him.”

Concern about the issues facing humanity has long been a hallmark of the French producer’s work, with the destruction of the planet by mankind a marked preocupation in the early phase of his career. Albums such as ‚Oxygene‘, ‚Equinoxe‘ or ‚Waiting For Cousteau‘ as well as the video for ‚Oxygene Pt. 4‘, show a clear concern for the environment, ecology and the erosion of natural resources. Jarre is also a noted activist on human rights issues having been appointed Good Will Ambassador for UNESCO in 1994.

Jean-Michel Jarre chooses Sónar for the world première of his new live show

Friday 17th June sees Jean-Michel Jarre take to the stage at Sónar by Night for the world premiere of his new show, which will include the live debut of selected tracks from Electronica volume 1 & 2, as well a number of his greatest hits. At present, we are unable to comment further on the content of this show; suffice to say it will be characteristically spectacular.

Sónar is pleased to welcome this legend of contemporary electronica, pioneer in the use of synthesizers and consumate but principled showman to the festival, in what will be his only performance in Spain.

Jean-Michel Jarre joins the list of distinguished speakers at Sónar+D

This year, as part of the Sónar+D program, distinguished artists from the festival line up will be hosting a series of talks on their work, focusing on the live experience and how they re-contextualize their music for the visual arena.

As a pioneer in the staging of large scale audio-visual shows, Jarre is an outstanding addition to the program, which includes Carsten Nicolai (Alva Noto) and Olaf Bender (Byetone) from the German label Raster Noton, Kode 9 and Lawrence Lek as well as Richie Hawtin, who will be offering a special masterclass on the production of his show, also to be staged at Sónar 2016.